National 8(a) Association Receives SBA Small Business Teaming Pilot Program Grant

Published: September 29, 2011

Funding will provide education, mentoring and outreach for small businesses.

The National 8(a) Association is honored to announce it has received a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Small Business Teaming Pilot Program grant to help foster growth, education and opportunities for small businesses.

Funded by the Small Business Jobs Act, which was signed into law by President Obama last year, the Small Business Teaming Pilot Program is designed to help small businesses work together to compete for federal contracts, grow, and ultimately create jobs. SBA grants have been awarded to the National 8(a) Association and 10 other organizations for the training, counseling and mentoring of small businesses that wish to partner and develop relationships in order to compete for larger federal contracts. These teaming partnerships may take shape as joint ventures or as mentor/protégé relationships.

The National 8(a) Association has been awarded $500,000, the greatest amount received by any Small Business Teaming Pilot Program awardee, to help small businesses learn how to work and grow together. The National 8(a) Association has an established record of success in bringing together diverse small businesses and enhancing their ability to compete in the federal procurement system. Relationship building and education are critical for small businesses that want to succeed in the world of federal contracting, according to National 8(a) Association president Ron Perry.

"There are a lot of small businesses that don't understand how the federal process works," Perry said. "It's very different from the commercial world."

Small businesses must learn how to understand and meet the federal procurement criteria, which can be very specific and vary from agency to agency. With the funds from its SBA grant, the National 8(a) Association will hire new staff and hold four annual conferences for businesses that want to land large government contracts.

"We're hiring folks to actually help with facilitating relationships that lead to large contracts between the small businesses and the federal government," Perry said. "Our job will be to take qualified small businesses, get them together with other qualified small businesses, and help them succeed in securing large federal contracts."

Founded in 1997 as the Alaska 8(a) Association, the National 8(a) Association's mission is to help small businesses - 8(a) certified or not - gain the valuable education, promotion and federal contracting information they need to further advance their level of experience and achieve a higher degree of success. The organization's objectives are: